Jenson Button will start on pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix with a brilliant lap some three tenths faster than second placed man Kamui Kobayashi.
The pole is Button’s first since Monaco 2009 when he drove for Brawn GP, making this his first pole for McLaren on his 50th race for the Woking team.
Kobayashi surprised with second, his best ever performance on Saturday.
In a further surprise, Pastor Maldonado secured third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, with the second Sauber of Sergio Perez in fifth in what is one of the most mixed up grids ever seen.
Current championship leader Fernando Alonso looked strong during FP3, but could only manage sixth ahead of Mark Webber who will drop to 12th after a gearbox penalty.
That will promote Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta, Sebastian Vettel – who qualified a surprise 11th – and Nico Hulkenberg.
Nico Rosberg couldn’t manage a lap quick enough to get him out of Q1 and with a grid-penalty, he will start 23rd ahead of Narain Karthikeyan.
Click here for the provisional Belgian GP grid with penalties applied.
2012 Belgian GP Qualifying Results (* = 5 place penaly):
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:49.722 | 1:48.792 | |
| 07. | M. Webber* | Red Bull | 1:49.859 | 1:48.546 | 1:48.392 |
| 08. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:49.605 | 1:48.563 | 1:48.394 |
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:49.250 | 1:47.654 | 1:47.573 |
| 17. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:49.958 | 1:50.088 | |
| 06. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:49.401 | 1:48.598 | 1:48.313 |
| 14. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:49.588 | 1:49.147 | |
| 12. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:49.362 | 1:48.855 | |
| 03. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:48.993 | 1:48.780 | 1:47.893 |
| 02. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:49.686 | 1:48.569 | 1:47.871 |
| 05. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:49.642 | 1:47.980 | 1:48.219 |
| 20. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:51.967 | ||
| 04. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:49.546 | 1:48.414 | 1:48.205 |
| 13. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:49.742 | 1:49.081 | |
| 18. | N. Rosberg* | Mercedes | 1:50.181 | ||
| 09. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:50.126 | 1:48.714 | 1:48.538 |
| 15. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:49.763 | 1:49.354 | |
| 10. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:50.033 | 1:48.729 | 1:48.890 |
| 22. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:53.030 | ||
| 16. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:49.572 | 1:49.543 | |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:51.739 | ||
| 23. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:53.493 | ||
| 21. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:52.336 | ||
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:54.989 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:56.622 | ||||
